The Haas Homestead

Excited

As teachers it’s our job to not only teach children the educational curriculum, but also to teach them how to be the best person that they can be. It is a wonderful experience to see things click for children. For me, working with the tiniest of humans in a preschool setting is the most joyful, watching a child go from babble to sentences or learning to tie their own shoes. But the fun doesn’t stop in the physical world! There are so many ways to help a child become the best person they can be online as well: how to be kind and respectful, how to engage and collaborate, and most importantly, how to be safe. It’s just as exciting to watch students learn good habits online as it is in person. (Mod 5: Digital Citizens.

Worrisome

If we are being fully transparent about the challenges we might face, it would be the students themselves. Ever hear of the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink?” This saying is so true about students’ motivation to implement responsible and wise decision making online. Additionally, if we look at the role models that we have in society it’s sad to say that there are a lot of don’ts role models and a lot less of the do role models. If there is no instruction for good digital citizenship and adults can’t demonstrate it, then how are students supposed to (1) know what to do, (2) know what is right and wrong, and (3) make the choice to do it. It’s important that we as adults model how we want our young digital citizens to behave. To look further into the do’s and don’ts of digital citizenship watch this video, a talk with Richard Culatta (ISTE CEO)

Out of this World, and into the Digital

What you need to know

• Our students are growing up in a world of technology, because of this they are considered “Digital Natives.” (Mod 3: DN&DS)
• If a student is online, then it is vital that the concepts of digital citizenship be woven into the curriculum. 
• Teaching students the acceptable and responsible behavior for online usage has the same importance as any other piece of curriculum. (Mod 3: DN&DS)
• Teaching students the “Do’s” of digital citizenship will be more effective than warning them against the don’ts. (Mod 5: Digital Citizens)
• With the opportunities of technology, collaboration and technology are available anytime, anywhere. So it is vital to teach good digital citizenship. (Mod 5: Intro).
• Students should know and understand what a digital footprint is and that once information is shared you can’t unshare it. (Mod 3: DN&DS)

Suggestion: Make sure to check out Commonsense.org, get signed up, and get access to lessons for all ages on digital citizenship! Lessons have implementation guides, slides, activities, and much more. As an educator you can use this for whole class instruction, group work, individual work, or utilize this tool for a bit of flipped classroom preparation. Overall you can’t go wrong with utilizing this tool to weave digital citizenship into your curriculum, especially because it’s minimal to no prep needed